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President Duque announced this Friday the vaccination schedule that will be implemented in Colombia from January 2021. The country, according to the Government, has secured 40 million vaccines against covid-19 and the first to be applied will be those of Pfizer and AstraZeneca.
The plan initially looks like this: in January it will be the enlistment process, in February the mass vaccination will start and “if, as happens in other countries, we have access to trial vaccines, we will also begin trial vaccination processes in January,” said the Minister of Health, Fernando Ruiz.
(In context: Colombia ensures 40 million vaccines against covid-19)
The head of the Ministry of Health answered during the ‘Prevention and Action’ program some basic questions about the plan that the Government announced at the time when the country was facing a rebound in coronavirus infections.
Who will be the first to get the vaccine?
Ruiz confirmed that there are three population groups that will receive the vaccine in phase I:
– Population older than 60 years.
– Population with these comorbidities (hypertensive diseases, diabetes, kidney failure, lung diseases, asthmatics, HIV, cancer, tuberculosis, hepatitis C and obesity).
– Health workers (includes logistics personnel working within the hospital environment).
“We have already identified with their own name the people who are going to be in this set of priorities to be vaccinated,” said the minister.
What will the vaccination stages of the first phase be like?
In total they will be five stages. The first will cover 100% of healthcare workers and front-line support personnel. There will also be those over 80 who “represent the greatest risk.”
In the second phase will be the population between 60 and 79 years old and 100% of the health workers who are in the second and third line of support.
The third phase will include 100% of the population aged 16 to 59 with comorbidities and 100% of elementary and high school teachers. “This is in the sense of the need that the country has to reactivate its educational sector and protect our children who are having health risks and abuse due to isolation,” said Ruiz, who also said that in this first phase they will be vaccinated ” more or less three million people ”.
(Further: Judge insists on requiring PCR tests from travelers, but eliminates quarantine)
And the stages of the second phase?
It will be two stages. The first is made up of institutional caregivers and the population in occupations and risk situations.
The last to receive the vaccination, according to the schedule explained by the Government, will be people who are between 16 and 59 years old free of comorbidities.
In the explanation they did not present the dates on which each of these stages will take place.
(In other countries: Peru declares the vaccine against covid-1 free and universal9)
We will deliver a completely free vaccination for all Colombians
What are the objectives of each phase?
In the first phase, the objectives will be to reduce mortality from covid-19; reduce the incidence of serious cases by covid-19 and protect health workers.
In the second phase, the objective will be to reduce contagion to “generate what we call herd immunity and ensure that vaccinating a substantial part of the population protects the entire Colombian population against covid-19,” explained the minister .
Ruiz confirmed that, according to the evidence that exists up to this moment, to generate the immunity of the herd “We need to vaccinate 70% of the population, this represents vaccinating 35,734,649 Colombians.”
The official clarified that the nearly 1,500,000 people who already have covid-19 diagnosed will not be included in the initial phase of the vaccination programTherefore, the first vaccinated will be 34,234,649 Colombians. In addition, he also made a precision in the sense that this number may vary according to the evolution of the pandemic.
“Over time we will acquire other vaccines to complete the number needed to vaccinate those 34 million people,” he clarified.
(We suggest you read: FDA approves Moderna’s vaccine, the second against covid-19)
And the minors?
The head of the Ministry of Health assured that children “will not be initial subjects of vaccination” because studies of the vaccines available in the world have been done in a population over 16 years of age. He also said that they hope that “as evidence emerges, we will be deciding when, or based on what scientific evidence, we include this population.”
“Today we are talking about a group of vaccines that are already on the market. But there are more than 200 vaccine developments underway and we already know that by the second half of 2021 we will have another group of vaccine producing companies that will be carrying innovative vaccines that we will offer to Colombians to the market “, concluded the head of the Ministry of Health.
(You can continue reading: New cases of allergic reactions after the application of the Pfizer vaccine)
Finally, how can people get vaccinated?
The Minister of Health informed that each person will be assigned the date and time of care in the selected vaccination IPS. The procedure will be explained and an informed consent will have to be issued since the vaccine is voluntary. “Then the application will be made and a record will remain. The patient will be given a card with the second date to apply the other dose.
“In Colombia we have a total of 7,920 vaccinators with a vaccination capacity per day of 277,200. This allows us to have peace of mind that there is sufficient capacity to do the vaccination at the national level. Obviously there will be a regional distribution issue that will involve us supplying with personnel in some sites where there are deficiencies, “the official concluded. Lastly, Ruiz said that vaccination was the best gift they could give Colombians at this time.
ELTIEMPO.COM
